Deuteronomy 17

1 Thou schalt not offre to thi Lord God an oxe and a scheep in which is a wem, ether ony thing of vice, for it is abhominacioun to thi Lord God.

Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the LORD thy God an ox, or a sheep, wherein is a blemish, [or] any evil-favouredness: for that is an abomination unto the LORD thy God.

2 And whanne a man ether a womman, that doon yuel in the siyte of thi Lord God, ben foundun at thee, with ynne oon of thi yatis whiche thi Lord God schal yyue to thee, and thei breken the couenaunt of God,

If there be found in the midst of thee, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that doeth that which is evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant,

3 that thei go and serue alien goddis, and worschipe hem, the sunne, and moone, and al the knyythod of heuene, whiche thingis Y comaundide not;

and hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;

4 and this is teld to thee, and thou herist, and `enquerist diligentli, and fyndist that it is soth, and abhomynacioun is doon in Israel;

and it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, then shalt thou inquire diligently, and, behold, if it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel;

5 thou schalt lede out the man and the womman, that diden a moost cursid thing, to the yatis of thy citee, and thei schulen be oppressid with stoonus.

then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have done this evil thing, unto thy gates, even the man or the woman; and thou shalt stone them with stones, that they die.

6 He that schal be slayn, schal perische in the mouth of tweyne, ethir of thre witnessis; no man be slayn, for o man seith witnessyng ayens hym.

At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is to die be put to death; at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.

7 The hond of witnessis schal first sle hym, and the last hond of the tothir puple schal be sent, that thou do awei yuel fro the myddis of thee.

The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So thou shalt put away the evil from the midst of thee.

8 If thou perseyuest, that hard and douteful doom is at thee, bitwixe blood and blood, cause and cause, lepre and not lepre, and thou seest that the wordis of iugis with ynne thi yatis ben dyuerse; rise thou, and stie to the place which thi Lord God hath choose;

If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose;

9 and thou schalt come to the preestis of the kyn of Leuy, and to the iuge which is in that tyme, and thou schalt axe of hem, whiche schulen schewe to thee the treuthe of doom.

and thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days: and thou shalt inquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment:

10 And thou schalt do, what euer thing thei seien, that ben souereyns in the place which the Lord chees, and techen thee bi the lawe of the Lord;

and thou shalt do according to the tenor of the sentence, which they shall shew thee from that place which the LORD shall choose; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they shall teach thee:

11 thou schalt sue the sentence of hem; thou schalt not bowe to the riyt side, ether to the lefte.

according to the tenor of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not turn aside from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left.

12 Forsothe that man schal die, which is proud, and nyle obeie to the comaundement of the preest, `that mynystrith in that tyme to thi Lord God, and to the sentence of iuge, and thou schalt do awei yuel fro the myddis of Israel;

And the man that doeth presumptuously, in not hearkening unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.

13 and al the puple schal here, and drede, that no man fro thennus forth bolne with pride.

And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.

14 Whanne thou hast entrid in to the lond, which thi Lord God schal yyue to thee, and weldist it, and dwellist therynne, and seist, Y schal ordeyne a kyng on me, as alle naciouns `bi cumpas han;

When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein; and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are round about me;

15 thou schalt ordeyne hym, whom thi Lord God chesith of the noumbre of thi brethren. Thou schalt not mow make king a man of anothir folk, which man is not thi brother.

thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not put a foreigner over thee, which is not thy brother.

16 And whanne the king is ordeyned, he schal not multiplie horsis to hym, nethir he schal lede ayen the puple in to Egipt, nethir he schal be reisid bi the noumbre of knyytis, moost sithen the Lord comaundide to you, that ye turne no more ayen bi the same weie.

Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.

17 The kyng schal not haue ful many wyues, that drawen his soule `to ouer myche fleischlynesse, nether `he schal haue grete burthuns of siluer and of gold.

Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

18 Forsothe after that he hath sete in the trone of his rewme, he schal write to himsilf the deuteronomy of this lawe in a `volym ether book, and he schal take `a saumpler at preestis of `the kyn of Leuy;

And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of [that which is] before the priests the Levites:

19 and he schal haue it with hym, and he schal rede it in alle the daies of his lijf, that he lerne to drede his Lord God, and to kepe hise wordis and cerymonyes, that ben comaundid in the lawe;

and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:

20 nether his herte be reisid in to pride on hise brithren, nether bowe he in to the riyt side, ether left side, that he regne long tyme, he and hise sones on Israel.

that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel.